Sneak Peek into the BChat Desktop App

BChat is our flagship and first dApp to be launched. It’s a messaging application that doesn’t collect any information about the user. You can create an account on BChat simply by generating an anonymous on-chain BChat ID that you can use to chat with your friends and family. BChat is available for mobile devices on the PlayStore and AppStore.

Download BChat from PlayStore

Download BChat from AppStore

We envision BChat to be a cross-platform application that’s accessible on every device. This is why we’ve been developing a desktop version of the application for Linux, Windows, and MacOS.

We’re close to launching the app, save for a final few testing. So here’s a quick sneak peek into the application and its features.

Display Name

Set a display name. This is the name that your friends will see when they chat with you. This is not a username as BChat doesn’t have usernames. If there’s anything such as an username equivalent, then it’d be your BChat ID.

Wallet Password

BChat is not a standalone messenger. It’s an application that incorporates several features with messaging as its primary use case. However, BChat will later incorporate an integrated wallet that will let you send and receive BDX, the native crypto currency of the Beldex network.

For this reason, set a wallet password that can be used to access your wallet within BChat. This password is also used to authenticate your transactions.

Chat ID & Beldex Address

Once you’ve set your wallet password, a randomly generated BChat ID and Wallet address will be displayed on-screen. You can share this BChat ID with your friends to connect with them on BChat.

The wallet address corresponds to your wallet within BChat. Both the wallet address and BChat ID are generated with the same mnemonic key or recovery seed. Thus, you can use this seed to restore your wallet on the Beldex decentralized wallet (PlayStore, AppStore).

Recovery Phrase

The next screen will show you your recovery phrase (also called recovery seed or mnemonic key). Ensure that no one else is behind you. Copy the recovery phrase and save it somewhere safe.

Preferably write it down on paper and place it in a safekeep. Your recovery phrase can be used to restore or sign into your BChat account from another device.

Your Profile

And voila! You’ve created your account. You can see your profile (display name, BChat ID and wallet address) by clicking on the profile icon at the top left corner. You can edit your display name here.

Start a New Chat!

Start a new chat by clicking the (+) icon on the navigation bar at the top-left. Enter your friend’s BChat ID to connect with them or share your BChat ID via a secure external channel.

The Chat Box

Messages that you receive are first filtered through a message request. You can either choose to accept or reject the message request. Once you accept a message request, then the sender is added to your BChat contactbook.

Message requests are automatically accepted when you respond to a message. You can use the attachment icon to send images📷, videos📹, and files📁.

Chat Settings

Click the hamburger icon at the top-right corner of the chat window to reveal the chat settings. The chat settings has a number of options that allow you to

Set disappearing messages
Enable/disable the notification for a specific chat
Pin the chat to the top of the left pane
Block a contact
Copy their BChat ID
Mark all the unread messages as read
Change the nickname for your contact
Delete all the messages in the conversation
Delete the contact
And show user details (alternately, you can click their profile icon to reveal their details)

The Left Pane

Alternatively, you can also click on the chats in the left pane to reveal the chat settings

Secret Groups

You can find the secret groups option at the bottom of the left pane.

Secret groups are groups that you can create for your close circle of friends and family. You can only add your BChat contacts to secret groups.

Currently, the maximum number of contacts that you can add to a secret group is 100. Secret groups work in the same way as one-to-one chats.

Social Groups

Social groups are public groups that can accommodate a large number of participants. Thus, it is perfect for larger communities. To set up and manage a social group, the administrator of the group needs to set up a dedicated server. The capacity of the group at any time will depend on the capacity of the server. A detailed documentation on setting up a social group will be shared in a follow-up post.

At present, 5 social groups are managed by the Beldex foundation. These are Beldex, BChat, BelNet, Crypto News, and Masternode.

Settings

Click the settings⚙️ icon at the bottom of the left pane to access account settings.

Here you can find the options to customize your account appearance and manage your privacy settings. You can also find the list of blocked contacts, view your recovery seed and messages requests.

Hops will show you the location of the nodes your messages are being routed through in the Beldex network.

Voice & Video Calls

To make a voice or a video call, first go to Settings > Privacy and enable ‘microphone’ and ‘voice and video calls’ access.

Now, click the phone icon at the top right of the chat window. This will initiate a voice call and you’ll see a pop-up window.

You can enable video by clicking the video icon in the pop-up. Here, you also have the option to mute the microphone and the speaker.

Light Mode

Click the sun☀️ icon next to the (+) icon at the top left to activate light mode. You can also access this option under Settings > Appearance > Dark Mode > Disable.

Similarly, clicking the moon🌙 icon or enabling dark mode under settings activates the dark mode.